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Municipal    Market    Policy 


By 

HON.   CYRUS  C.  MILLER 

President,  Borough  of  The  Bronx 


v» 


THE  CITY  CLUB  OF  NEW  YORK 
1912 


Municipal    Market    Policy 


By 

HON.   CYRUS   C.   MILLER 

President,  Borough  of  The  Bronx 


THE  CITY  CLUB  OF  NEW  YORK 
1912 

AMERICA;]  CITY  BUREAU 

93  NASSAU  STREET,  NEW  YORK 


FOREWORD 

The  efficient  distribution  of  the  food  supply  of  New 
York  City  is  a  problem  today  not  only  largely  unsolved 
but  just  beginning  to  receive  its  due  attention.  Presi- 
dent Cyrus  C.  Miller  of  the  Borough  of  The  Bronx  has 
given  the  matter  his  serious  attention,  and  his  speech, 
herewith  reprinted,  embodies  valuable  information  not 
at  present  available  in  other  form. 

The  City  Club  has  appointed  a  Special  Committee 
on  Market  Policy,  as  follows: 

Laurence  L.  Driggs,  Chairman 

Porter  F.  AtLee 

Richard  C.  Harrison 

Burdette  G.  Lewis 

The  Committee's  preliminary  investigation  de- 
velops the  following  facts  and  tentative  conclusions: 

1.  Administration   of  markets  is  divided  among 
Borough  Presidents,  the   Department  of  Finance  and 
the  Sinking  Fund  Commission.     The  City  as  a  city 
can  scarcely  be  said  to  have  a  market  policy. 

2.  Not  one  of  the  regularly  housed  retail  markets 
conducted  by  New  York  City  brings  in  a  profit.    The 
City  is  acting  as  a  charitable  landlord  at  an  annual 
loss  of  from  $2,000  in  Jefferson  market  to  $40,000  in 
Gansevoort  market. 

3.  These   markets   do   not    bring   consumer   and 
producer  together. 

4.  The    wholesale    exchange    of    food    supply    is 
largely   regulated   by   the   steampship   and    railroad 
companies. 

5.  Such  wholesale  markets  as  the  City  has  estab- 
lished are  conducted  at  a  profit. 

6.  The  institution  of  properly  located  wholesale 
markets  controlled  by  the  City  would  seem  to  be  the 
policy  for  the  future.     By  such  proper  location  to 
transit  and  transfer  facilities,  the  cost  of  handling 
can  be  reduced,  one  or  more  sets  of  middlemen  made 
unnecessary,   and   the   City's   food   supply   be   more 
adequately  collected  and  inspected. 

Criticisms  and  suggestions  will  be  welcomed  by  the 
Committee. 

THE  CITY  CLUB  OF  NEW  YORK. 
May  i,  1912. 

3 

273595 


MUNICIPAL    MARKET    POLICY 

by 

HONORABLE  CYRUS  C.  MILLER, 

President,  Borough  of  The  Bronx. 

During  the  past  twenty-five  years  the  world  has 
progressed  with  discoveries  of  all  sorts  to  benefit  the 
human  race.  Much  has  been  done  in  the  science  of 
municipal  government;  much  has  been  done  in  the 
physical  upbuilding  of  our  city,  and  yet  I  venture 
to  say  that  little,  if  anything,  has  been  done  in  that 
time  to  improve  the  distribution  of  farm  products 
quickly  and  cheaply  among  consumers  in  the  City  of 
New  York.  The  City  has  outgrown  its  distributing 
facilities.  To  the  first  cost  of  farm  products  must  be 
added  the  unnecessary  cost  of  crude  methods  of  dis- 
tribution.  This  adds  to  the  cost  of  living  and  tends 
to  under-consumption  of  products.  The  more  a  man 
must  pay  for  his  food,  the  less  he  uses  of  it.  With 
better  distributing  facilities  our  citizens  could  get 
their  food  more  cheaply  and  therefore  have  more 
of  it  and  greater  variety  for  the  same  amount  of  money 
that  they  now  spend.  The  middleman,  who  is  blamed 
for  much  of  the  increase  in  the  cost  of  farm  products, 
is  the  victim  of  a  bad  system.  To  the  profit  which 
he  must  make  to  enable  him  to  live,  he  must  add  all 
the  cost  of  trucking,  storage  and  various  other  charges 
which  are  not  a  profit  to  him,  but  which  go  to  make 
his  toll  higher. 

In  the  Borough  of  Manhattan  from  noth  Street 
north  to  the  Harlem  River  there  are  810,000  people; 
in  the  Borough  of  The  Bronx  there  are  450,000  people; 
and  in  New  Rochelle,  Mt.  Vernon  and  Yonkers,  there 
are  approximately  130,000  more,  making  a  total  of 
1,390,000  people,  and  this  number  is  increasing 
rapidly.  Within  this  thickly  populated  territory  the 
facilities  for  distributing  food  supplies  are  little  short 
of  absurd.  For  instance,  quantities  of  fish  are  brought 
in  every  day  from  New  England  to  the  freight  term- 
inal on  the  Harlem  River,  and  because  of  the  lack  of 
marketing  facilities  there,  must  be  loaded  on  a  barge 


and  taken  down  to  the  fish  market,  to  be  sold  there 
and  carted  back  uptown.  This  is  typical  of  the  local 
condition  that  we  hope  to  remedy  by  establishing  in 
the  lower  Bronx,  on  the  Harlem  River,  at  a  point  of 
convenient  access  to  the  railroads  and  to  communica- 
tion by  water,  a  municipal  market  or  distributing 
depot  for  food  products,  that  will  bring  the  farmer  and 
the  consumer  a  step  closer  together  and  eliminate  a 
few  of  the  intermediate  expenses  that  are  increasing 
the  cost  of  food.  A  similar  wholesale  distributing 
market  probably  will  be  necessary  for  every  Borough, 
and  perhaps  two  for  Manhattan.  Markets,  to  be  of 
real  value  to  the  people,  must  be  near  the  centers  of 
population,  as  the  present  New  York  markets  are  not. 
This  is  not  a  "muck-raking"  movement  directed 
against  the  middlemen.  In  the  natural  development 
of  the  organization  of  business  the  middlemen  have 
attained  their  place  in  the  distributing  system,  and 
in  the  complexity  of  modern  conditions,  they  are  a 
necessity.  We  cannot  buy  fresh  fruit  and  vegetables 
directly  from  the  producers  in  the  middle  of  winter, 
because  we  are  too  far  from  the  source  of  supply. 
There  must  be  intermediate  dealers,  (i)  and  our  only 
complaint  is  that  their  expenses  are  too  high.  One 
authority  gives  a  number  of  instances  of  the  piling 
up  of  intermediate  charges,  such  as,  Arkansas  apples 
sold  by  the  farmer  last  year  for  $1.50  a  barrel  and 
retailed  in  New  York  for  $1.25  a  dozen,  or  $35  a 
barrel;  cauliflower  sold  by  the  farmer  for  one  cent  a 
head  and  retailed  here  for  15  cents  a  head,  etc.,  etc. 
Whether  we  think  that  many  of  the  middlemen  are 
making  too  much  money  or  not — and  in  spite  of  the 
popular  outcry  there  are  still  many  of  us  who  do  not 
think  this — almost  all  will  agree  that  for  us  here  in 
New  York  food  would  cost  less  if  passed  through 
fewer  hands  and  that  prices  would  more  easily  ad- 
just themselves  to  their  proper  levels  if  there  were  a 
central  receiving  and  distributing  depot  where  a 
steady  supply  of  goods  could  be  received  in  large 
quantities  and  all  grades  be  sure  of  a  market. 


(i)    "Co-operation  Among  Consumers",  by  A.  P.  Hitchcock  in 
Country  Life  in  America,  September  15,  1911. 


Recent  publications  on  the  question  of  municipal 
markets  for  farm  products  may  give  the  impression 
that  such  markets  will  remove  the  middleman.  A 
person  might  gain  merit  for  a  minute  in  announcing 
that  he  had  discovered  a  method  whereby  he  could 
eliminate  the  middleman,  but  business  is  an  un- 
emotional thing  full  of  hard  facts,  one  of  which 
is  that  the  middleman  will  be  here  doing  a  middling 
(and  perhaps  first-class)  business  long  after  the  voice 
of  the  person  who  has  eliminated  him  has  ceased  to 
attract  notice.  Certain  services  of  middlemen  are 
necessary  and  in  so  far  as  they  perform  services,  their 
existence  will  continue.  For  instance,  the  middlemen 
of  New  York  finding  that  the  potato  crop  last  year 
was  short,  did  not  wait  until  prices  soared  to  pro- 
hibitive figures  in  New  York,  but  sent  to  Europe  for 
supplies  to  fill  the  deficiency  and  imported  a  great 
quartity  of  potatoes,  which  have  kept  the  market 
here  somewhat  near  the  normal.  This  is  a  distinct 
service  which  entitles  the  one  performing  it  to  reward. 
The  shipper's  agent  who  goes  into  the  country  and 
offers  spot  cash  to  the  farmer  for  his  products  is  like- 
wise a  middleman  who  under  some  circumstances  per- 
forms a  service.  The  farmer  needs  cash  and  is  un- 
willing to  take  the  chance  of  sending  his  goods  to 
market  so  he  accepts  the  offer  of  the  shipper's  agent. 
It  may  be  that  when  a  large  market  is  established  to 
which  the  farmer  can  send  his  produce  direct,  that 
the  shipper's  agent  will  be  eliminated,  but  the  prob- 
ability is  that  cash  will  be  just  as  potent  in  the  years 
to  come  as  it  is  now. 

When  money  is  scarce  in  this  country  so  that  our 
manufacturers  find  it  hard  to  get  it  in  order  to  carry 
on  their  work,  the  banker  buys  money  in  Europe, 
brings  it  here  and  sells  it  to  our  manufacturers,  there- 
by relieving  the  strain  on  business.  This  is  the  work 
of  a  middleman  and  is  a  service  for  which  the  banker 
is  paid.  Theoretically  there  is  nothing  to  prevent 
the  borrower  going  directly  to  the  lender,  but  it  is 
not  the  rule  of  business.  Brokers  are  necessary. 

Middlemen  also  are  necessary  to  select  from  the 
miscellaneous  supplies  in  the  market  the  grades  and 
qualities  needed  by  retail  dealers  and  other  large 


buyers,  such  as  hotels,  railways  and  steamship  lines. 
A  prominent  hotel  man  here  told  me  recently  that 
every  morning  his  men  go  to  the  markets  with  ten 
thousand  dollars  to  buy  the  day's  supplies.  It  is 
obvious  that  these  men  have  not  the  time  to  select 
from  the  miscellaneous  supplies  in  the  market  the 
things  they  want.  They  probably  will  deal  with  the 
middlemen  who  will  perform  that  service.  The  buyers 
for  the  large  steamships  probably  will  deal  through  the 
middlemen  and  it  is  not  improbable  that  even  the 
retailers  themselves  will  find  it  more  economic  to 
have  agents  in  the  market  who  will  buy  at  auction 
for  them  and  distribute  to  them  the  quantities  and 
qualities  they  need. 

Where  then  is  the  saving  to  be  made  from  the  large 
municipal  market?  It  is  in  the  fact  that  all  the  un- 
necessary lighterage,  trucking,  handling  and  jobbing 
would  be  eliminated  and  a  direct  line  made  between 
the  farm  and  the  consumer.  Also  if  the  farmer  is 
assured  of  a  steady  demand  for  his  products  at  a  fair 
price,  he  will  raise  them  in  greater  quantity  and  will 
be  able  to  sell  them  at  a  reasonable  rate.  The  small 
toll  which  each  man  will  impose  for  the  necessary 
service  which  he  renders  is  little  indeed  compared 
to  the  amount  which  is  imposed  now  unnecessarily 
by  reason  of  bad  handling  facilities.  I  believe  that 
an  average  of  forty-five  per  cent  is  added  to  the  cost 
of  the  goods  between  the  time  they  reach  the  City  and 
the  time  they  get  to  the  consumer.  In  some  instances 
this  percentage  is  much  larger.  The  prices  of  the  goods 
in  the  market  will  be  fixed  by  the  auction  sales,  at 
which  the  retailer  may  buy  if  he  wishes.  But  when 
extra  services  are  rendered  by  the  middlemen  such 
as  I  have  described,  the  buyer  will  pay  an  extra  per- 
centage for  such  services.  In  the  complicated  life 
of  modern  cities  some  middlemen  are  necessary.  All 
that  we  can  hope  to  do  is  to  cut  out  the  unnecessary 
ones  and  to  limit  the  expenses  of  handling  the  goods. 

(i)  In  an  investigation  into  the  cost  of  living  made 
under  the  U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture  recently, 
comparative  studies  of  price  levels  here  and  abroad 
show  that  prices  at  the  present  time  are  not  as  un- 
(i)  Address  of  Mr.  G.  K.  Holmes. 


reasonably  high  as  is  commonly  supposed.  They  are 
high  as  compared  with  fifteen  years  ago,  but  at  that 
time  they  were  unusually  low — it  was  a  period  of 
industrial  depression.  It  is  undoubtedly  true  that 
if  there  were  less  "unproductive  consumption" — less 
money  spent  for  momentary  pleasures  and  unneces- 
sary appliances  of  all  kinds,  many  incomes  that  now 
barely  cover  running  expenses  could  be  made  to  cover 
those  and  an  annual  saving  besides,  and  there  might 
be  less  complaint  about  high  prices.  Those  too  who 
used  to  buy  crackers  from  a  barrel  and  now  buy  them 
wrapped  in  paraffin  paper  and  put  up  in  a  pasteboard 
box,  must  remember  that  they  are  demanding  more 
now  than  formerly  in  safeguards  against  unclean  or 
unwholesome  food,  and  that  they  must  pay  for  such 
safeguards. 

But  even  granting  this,  it  is  still  true  that  the  retail 
prices  of  many  of  the  necessaries  of  life  are  too  high. 
The  eagerness  with  which  pelple  all  over  the  country 
are  supporting  the  various  co-operative  efforts  to 
reduce  prices  in  one  line  or  another,  show  that  they 
are  realizing  this.  Last  year  an  enterprising  woman 
over  in  Brooklyn  undertook  to  do  the  buying  for  six 
families,  and  found  that  a  great  saving  could  by  made 
by  more  direct  buying, — i.e.,  by  eliminating  one 
middleman.  And  only  last  week  a  plan  was  outlined 
in  a  newspaper,  of  some  enterprising  residents  of 
Flatbush  who  are  planning  to  start  a  co-operative 
store.  Co-operative  buying,  however,  is  a  superficial 
remedy.  The  real  trouble  is  in  the  marketing  of 
products.  That  is  where  the  greatest  loss  comes. 

( i )  There  are  throughout  the  country  a  great  many 
farmers'  co-operative  associations  and  their  number 
is  increasing  every  year,  especially  among  the  fruit- 
growers in  the  West.  They  combine  for  the  purchase 
of  supplies  used  in  production  and  for  standardizing 
the  various  processes  in  producing  and  shipping  their 
crops.  They  have  brought  about  great  improvements 
in  the  methods  of  grading  and  packing  fruit  for  mar- 
ket, but  that  is  as  far  as  they  can  go  with  their 


(i)  "Co-operation  in  the  Handling  and  Marketing  of  Fruit",  by 
G.  H.  Powell,  in  the  U.  S.  Dept.  of  Agriculture  Yearbook, 
1910,  p.  391. 

8 


organization.  The  next  step  is  to  provide  distributing 
centers  to  which  they  may  ship  their  produce  and  be 
assured  of  a  market. 

Up  to  the  present  time  New  York  has  been  far 
behind  many  other  cities  in  this  country  and  almost 
every  large  city  in  Europe  in  her  handling  of  the  mar- 
ket situation, — in  fact,  she  has  not  handled  it  at  all. 
The  markets  that  we  have  are  far  from  the  present 
centers  of  population  and  have  gotten  so  out  of  repair 
and  been  so  badly  managed  in  recent  years  that  they 
are  of  small  service  to  the  people  of  the  City.  At  a 
hearing  (i)  before  the  Governor's  Food  Investigating 
Commission  held  on  March  I2th  last,  it  was  reported 
by  the  Superintendent  of  our  markets  that  last  year 
the  City  had  a  deficit  of  more  than  $80,000  on  its 
markets. 

As  contrasted  with  our  $80,000  market  deficit  last 
year  the  conditions  in  other  cities  are  interesting.  No 
American  city  has  markets  that  will  compare  in 
careful  organization  and  operation  with  the  better 
ones  of  Europe — only  a  few  have  market  buildings  at 
all — but  the  reports  show  that  Boston,  for  instance, 
nets  a  profit  of  $60,000  a  year;  Baltimore,  $50,000  a 
year;  and  New  Orleans,  $79,000  a  year  on  their 
markets.  The  (2)  Superintendent  of  Markets  of 
Buffalo  reports  that  for  the  last  fiscal  year  the 
receipts  of  their  markets  exceeded  disbursements  by 
$46,000.  The  City  of  Buffalo  has  just  appropriated 
$100,000  to  reconstruct  one  of  its  markets. 

In  some  of  these  cities  no  attempt  is  made  to  operate 
the  markets  in  such  a  way  as  to  reduce  prices  to  a 
minimum.  Stalls  are  sublet  at  rentals  greatly  in 
advance  of  what  the  City  receives  and  this  of  course 
tends  to  raise  the  prices  of  products.  This  is  not 
allowed  in  Buffalo  (3)  markets;  there  any  lessee  found 
subletting  his  stall  is  deprived  of  his  lease,  and  the 
stall  is  taken  by  the  City  and  leased  to  another  holder. 

The  City  of  Madison,  Wisconsin,  a  city  of  25,000 


(1)  New  York  Times,  March  13,  1912. 

(2)  "Municipal  Markets",  by  Don  E.  Mowry,  in  Municipal  Jour- 

nal and  Engineer,  October  23,  1907,  p.  462 

(3)  Letter  from  Supt.  Bergmann,  March  6,  1912. 


people,  has  (i)  recently  attacked  the  problem  of  the 
high  cost  of  living  by  erecting  at  an  expense  of  $55,000 
a  municipal  market  to  which  farmers  or  their  represen- 
tatives may  come  and  sell  their  produce  directly  to  re- 
tail dealers  and  consumers.  They  have  put  up  a  two- 
story  concrete  structure  of  attractive  appearance, 
containing  offices,  retiring  rooms,  and  lunch  tables, 
besides  a  large  open  display  floor  and  stalls  for  the 
marketmen,for  the  use  of  which  small  fees  are  charged. 
As  a  result  it  is  said  that  prices  have  been  lowered 
all  over  the  city.  Speculation  in  food  products  is 
prevented  by  a  rule  forbidding  any  one  to  sell  in 
the  market  who  is  not  a  producer  or  who  has  not 
bought  outside  the  city. 

(2)  In  Fort   Wayne,   Indiana,   they  have  built    a 
"farmers'  market"  consisting  of  a  colonnade  450  x  27 
feet,  extending  along  the  front  of  two  blocks,  with 
pavilions  at  the  ends  for  offices,  etc.     Between  the 
columns  are  built  concrete  tables  five  feet  long  for 
the  use  of  the  marketmen,  who  back  their  wagons  up 
to  them.    The  buyers  use  the  passage  down  the  colon- 
nade. 

In  planning  such  a  municipal  market  as  we  have  in 
view,  much  may  be  learned  from  a  study  of  some  of 
the  systems  in  foreign  cities.  Most  of  the  cities  of 
Europe  have  market  systems  carefully  worked  out 
and  efficiently  administered. 

(3)  BERLIN — The  city  of  Berlin  has  14  public  mar- 
ket halls,  substantial  brick  buildings  of  one  or  more 
stories,  located  in  different  sections  of  the  city,  the 
first  of  which  was  opened  in  1886.     A  report  of  the 
markets  for  1910  gives  the  total  value  of  the  land, 
buildings  and  equipment  as  over  $7,000,000.     The 
trade  in  the  markets  is  both  wholesale  and  retail. 
The  point  of  greatest  interest  for  us  is  their  central 
market  hall.    This  is  mainly  a  wholesale  market  and 
has  direct  connection  with  the  Berlin  City  Railway, 
which  has  extensive  sidetracks  and  unloading  plat- 
forms and  sheds.     The  trade  there  is  in  meat,  fruit 


(1)  "A  Small  City's  Market  Place",  by  Don  E.  Mowry,  in  the 
American  City  for  July,  1911. 

(2)  American  City,  IV:247. 

(3)  "Municipal  Markets  and  Slaughterhouses  in  Europe",  pub. 
by  U.  S.  Dept.  of  Commerce  and  Labor,  1910.     (Authority 
for  most  of  what  follows). 

10 


and  vegetables.  It  is  a  main  distributing  center 
where  producers  may  sell  their  wares  directly  or 
through  one  intermediary  to  the  retail  dealers  or  to 
consumers. 

The  Berlin  markets  are  administered  by  a  muni- 
cipal market  hall  deputation  composed  of  five  mem- 
bers of  the  City  Council  and  ten  selectmen.  They 
have  jurisdiction  over  the  care  of  buildings,  fixing 
and  collecting  rentals  and  appointing  the  principal 
managing  officials  of  the  system,  sales  commissioners, 
etc.  Their  chief  executive  officer  is  a  managing  di- 
rector, under  whom  are  eight  inspectors.  There  are 
also  in  each  of  the  halls  an  overseer,  watchmen, 
janitors  and  mechanics.  The  municipal  sales  com- 
missioners, six  in  number,  are  bonded  officials  who  are 
forbidden  to  be  interested  directly  or  indirectly  in 
the  trade  that  is  carried  on.  They  have  offices  in 
the  main  market  hall  and  are  allowed  a  certain  fixed 
percentage  of  all  sales  made.  They  issue  daily  reports 
of  prices  and  in  this  way  act  as  a  sort  of  check  on  the 
entire  wholesale  business. 

The  markets  are  maintained  by  the  receipts  from 
the  rent  of  stalls  and  the  income  of  a  fund  for  their 
completion  and  maintenance.  For  the  year  1910  the 
total  receipts  of  the  markets  amounted  to  about 
$838,446,  and  the  total  expenditures  for  administra- 
tion, interest  and  sinking  fund  amounted  to  $763,468, 
leaving  a  surplus  for  the  year  of  $74,978.  Every  day 
they  receive  at  the  central  hall  from  50  to  150  car- 
loads of  produce.  To  meet  the  expenses  of  maintain- 
ing the  unloading  connections  there  is  collected  a 
municipal  railway  tax  of  about  $1.50  per  carload  from 
those  who  receive  the  goods.  The  stall  rents  are  the 
greatest  source  of  income.  In  the  cellars  of  some  of 
the  markets  are  refrigerating  plants. 

The  sanitary  regulations  are  strict  and  a  careful 
police  inspection  is  maintained  to  ensure  their  being 
carried  out.  The  halls  are  ventilated  by  windows 
inside  walls  and  roofs,  no  ventilating  machines  being 
used.  All  marketmen  must  unpack  their  wares  at 
least  once  a  week  and  decaying  products  are  destroy- 
ed. One  room  in  each  hall  is  set  aside  for  a  sort  of 

ii 


hospital  room  for  persons  suddenly  ill  or  injured,  and 
one  or  more  of  the  employees  in  each  hall  are  instruct- 
ed in  the  German  Red  Cross  Service. 

It  has  been  found  in  the  city  of  Berlin  that  while  the 
demands  of  the  wholesale  trade  are  constantly  increas- 
ing, so  that  now  extensions  of  the  main  market  hall 
and  of  the  railway  facilities  are  being  planned,  the 
local  retail  markets  operated  by  the  city  are  not  so 
successful.  This  is  due  to  changes  in  the  character 
of  neighborhoods  from  residential  to  business  streets, 
and  to  the  competition  with  street  vendors,  co-opera- 
tive associations,  and  retail  markets  kept  by  private 
individuals.  From  1900  to  1910  in  Berlin  the  business 
of  the  city's  local  retail  markets  has  steadily  decreased 
and  two  of  them  have  been  closed. 

COLOGNE — In  the  city  of  Cologne  they  completed 
in  1904  their  first  market  hall,  a  one-story  cement  and 
stone  building  with  a  cold  storage  plant.  It  covers 
8500  square  yards  and  cost  over  a  million  dollars.  This 
too  has  direct  connection  with  the  railways  and  does 
a  large  wholesale  business, — a  benefit  to  the  retailers 
because  of  the  possibility  of  direct  buying.  It  is  so 
far,  however,  from  the  centers  of  population  that  its 
large  retail  section  is  not  very  prosperous  and  the  total 
return  on  the  amount  invested  is  small. 

BUDAPEST— The  market  system  of  Budapest  is 
in  some  respects  model.  It  consists  of  a  large  central 
establishment  devoted  principally  to  wholesale  opera- 
tions, and  six  branch  markets  where  the  trade  is 
generally  retail.  Produce  reaches  the  city  by  wagon, 
boat  and  train.  The  central  market  is  a  large  two- 
story  fireproof  building.  In  spite  of  the  fact  that  very 
low  rents  are  charged  for  stands,  the  receipts  for  1906 
(the  atest  figures  available)  exceeded  expenditures 
by  over  $100,000. 

The  markets  are  under  the  contro*  of  a  municipal 
commission  which  formulates  the  regulations,  sani- 
tary and  administrative,  governing  them.  These  are 
admirably  adapted  to  develop  the  highest  degree  of 
hygiene  and  efficiency.  The  commission  also  pub- 
lished a  daily  report  of  wholesale  prices. 

The  low  rentals  charged  for  the  stands  enable  the 


12 


marketmen  to  sell  goods  at  a  lower  rate  than  that 
charged  in  the  shops.  One  regulation  forbids  anyone 
renting  a  stall  who  has  an  outside  shop  for  the  sale  of 
similar  goods.  The  stocks  of  the  marketmen  are 
gratuitously  insured  against  fire,  but  not  to  their  full 
value. 

VIENNA — Vienna  has  seven  market  buildings  and 
about  forty  open-air  market  places.  The  buildings 
are  large  halls  with  stone  floors  and  stalls  partitioned 
off  w  th  wire  screening.  The  market  halls  are  kept 
scrupulously  clean  and  all  goods  sold  are  carefully 
inspected.  The  markets  are  regulated  by  municipal 
ordinances  and  are  under  the  general  supervision  of 
market  commissioners  appointed  by  the  municipality. 
The  choosing  of  market  places  and  market  hours  is 
done  by  the  Board  of  Aldermen.  The  profit  on  the 
markets  in  Vienna  in  1906  amounted  to  $61  ooo. 

PARIS — There  is  probably  no  better  organization 
to  be  found  in  any  city  than  in  the  markets  of  Paris. 
Their  market  system  is  one  of  the  most  extensive  and 
carefully  administered  institutions  in  Europe.  One 
authority  states  that  notwithstanding  the  large  corps 
of  officials  necessary  for  such  administration  and  the 
large  profit  that  the  markets  annually  yield  the  city — 
in  1906,  it  was  $1,498,241 — the  work  is  all  so  efficiently 
done  that  the  food  prices  are  lower  than  in  London, 
where  the  markets  are  not  centralized,  and  contracts 
are  let  to  individuals  who  act  independently. 

The  Paris  system  includes  33  small  public  markets 
located  throughout  the  city,  supplied  by  a  large  central 
establishment  known  as  the  Halles  Centrales.  This 
consists  of  a  group  of  ten  buildings  or  pavilions, 
partly  connected  by  roofs  extending  over  the  inter- 
vening streets,  the  whole  occupying  an  oblong  plot 
22  acres  in  area.  Their  construction  was  begun  in 
1854  and  they  have  cost  for  ground  and  buildings 
about  $10,000,000.  A  majority  of  the  pavilions  are 
reserved  for  the  wholesale  trade.  Underneath  the 
pavilions  are  immense  cellars  for  the  storage  of  pro- 
duce, which  are  divided  into  sections  and  leased  to 
vendors.  Goods  are  received,  inspected,  weighed 
and  sold  under  constant  official  supervision.  In  the 

13 


year  1906  over  350,000  pounds  of  meat,  54,000  dozen 
€ggs  and  large  quantities  of  other  provisions  were 
seized  and  condemned  by  the  inspectors  as  unfit  for 
food.  This  is  an  indication  of  the  vigilance  with  which 
the  sanitary  regulations  are  carried  out.  The  volume 
of  the  wholesale  business  done  at  the  Halles  Centrales 
is  indicated  by  the  fact  that  in  one  year  there  were  sold 
there  over  113,000,000  pounds  of  meat,  47,000,000 
pounds  of  poultry  and  game,  28,000,000  pounds  of 
butter  and  36,000,000  of  eggs. 

The  market  is  administered  under  a  decree  issued 
by  the  President  of  the  Republic  in  1897,  and  is  under 
the  direct  supervision  of  the  Prefecture  of  Police.  In 
order  to  be  permitted  to  carry  on  a  wholesale  business 
in  the  Halles  Centrales  a  man  must  be  a  French  citi- 
zen, must  never  have  been  convicted  of  any  offense 
reflecting  on  his  integrity,  and  must  have  his  name 
placed  upon  the  approved  list  of  the  Tribunal  of 
Commerce  after  investigation  by  the  Prefecture  of 
Police,  and  must  deposit  at  the  municipal  treasury 
a  guaranty  or  bond  equal  to  thetrental  of  the  space 
during  the  preceding  year,  such  guaranty  to  be  in 
value  not  less  than  $1,000.  The  requirements  for  the 
retail  dealers  are  simpler.  The  auction  sales  in  the 
market  are  conducted  by  persons  called  "representa- 
tives of  the  shippers",  who  are  appointed  by  the  Pre- 
fecture of  Police.  They  receive  a  percentage  fixed 
by  law  of  all  sales  made  and  are  forbidden  to  have  a 
personal  interest  of  any  kind  in  the  trade  carried  on. 
Their  books  and  records  are  always  subject  to  in- 
spection by  the  proper  authorities.  The  market  price 
in  Paris  is  the  price  for  the  whole* surrounding  country . 
Special  agents  are  engaged  in  reporting  these  prices  to 
the  neighboring  districts.  If  a  producer  cannot  go  to 
market  himself,  the  representative  whom  he  chooses 
will  ensure  him  the  market  price  minus  the  small  fee 
which  he  charges  for  selling. 

The  results  of  this  system  are  beneficial  in  every 
way.  Regularity  of  standards  of  price  and  quality 
are  ensured,  exchanges  are  for  cash,  and  the  products 
are  guaranteed  by  good  sanitary  regulations  efficient- 
ly carried  out. 


In  Paris  as  in  Berlin,  it  has  been  found  that  the  large 
central  market  does  a  business  that  is  increasing  every 
year,  but  the  local  municipal  retail  markets  are  stead- 
ily decreasing  in  popularity.  They  are  well  supplied 
and  well  managed  but  it  is  found  that  the  convenience 
of  customers  is  better  served  in  the  small  markets  kept 
by  private  individuals.  The  people  no  longer  go  to- 
market  and  carry  their  provisions  home  with  them. 
There  as  here,  they  prefer  to  go  stores  that  will  de- 
liver the  goods  for  them,  and  the  custom  of  marketing 
by  telephone  is  getting  to  be  more  and  more  prevalent. 
One  of  the  local  market  buildings  has  been  leased  for 
a  steam  laundry  and  another  is  used  as  an  engine 
house  by  the  fire  department.  Parts  of  other  market 
buildings  have  been  leased  as  garages,  storehouses,, 
etc. 

LYONS — The  city  of  Lyons  has  a  large  central 
market  building  of  fireproof  construction,  covering 
38,000  square  feet  of  ground.  It  was  opened  in  1859. 
There  are  also  seventeen  smaller  markets  in  different 
parts  of  the  city. 

The  central  market  was  built  by  a  real  estate  and 
building  company.  The  contract  for  the  building 
gave  to  the  company  all  the  rent  for  stalls  and  auction 
space  for  five  years,  the  city  guaranteeing  an  annual 
minimum  income  of  about  $32,000,  with  the  proviso- 
that  receipts  in  excess  of  $42,000  should  be  divided 
equally  between  the  city  and  the  company.  The  con- 
cession to  the  company  was  fixed  for  fifty  years,  but 
the  city  bought  the  market  for  $887,000  a  year  after 
it  was  opened. 

There  are  in  the  building  over  200  stalls  and  a  space 
in  the  rear  of  the  hall  is  set  apart  for  auctions,  which 
are  held  each  day.  Meat,  vegetables  and  provisions 
of  all  kinds  are  offered  for  sale  at  these  auctions,  and 
always  in  wholesale  quantities.  For  the  protection 
of  the  people  who  rent  stalls  in  the  market,  it  is  pro- 
vided by  law  that  all  products  sold  at  auction  must 
come  from  outside  the  city.  In  proof  of  this  the 
presentation  of  a  certificate  from  a  railway  or  steam- 
boat officer  is  required  before  goods  may  be  offered 
for  sale.  This  prevents  speculation  in  food  products. 

15 


by  the  local  dealers.  The  auctions  are  always  public. 
They  are  a  great  boon  to  the  poorer  people  as  it  is 
possible  for  a  number  of  families  to  combine  and  auc- 
tion off  a  bunch  of  game  or  fish  and  divide  the  expense. 
This  brings  within  their  reach  luxuries  which  they 
otherwise  could  not  enjoy.  Sales  at  retail  are  prohib- 
ited. 

The  auctioneer  or  auctioneers  are  given  by  the  city 
a  monopoly  of  the  auction  market  for  ten  years,  dur- 
ing which  time  the  city  binds  itself  not  to  make  any 
other  like  contract.  They  are  licensed  after  making 
proofs  of  solvency  and  they  bind  themselves  to  pay  to 
the  city  in  monthly  instalments  a  sum  equal  to  2% 
of  the  total  auction  sales,  which  sum  cannot  be  less 
than  10,000  francs  ($1980)  a  year  for  one  auction  stand 
nor  more  than  50,000  francs  ($9650)  for  the  four  auc- 
tion stands.  The  auctioneer  is  forbidden  to  buy  any- 
thing at  auction  for  his  own  business  or  to  have  an 
agent  buy  for  him. 

The  auction  market  of  Lyons  is  quite  famous; 
dealers  in  other  cities  will  often  avail  themselves  of 
it  to  get  rid  of  overstocks  of  provisions. 

ENGLAND — In  England  there  are  thriving  market 
systems  in  many  cities.  The  City  of  Liverpool  has 
wholesale  vegetable,  fruit  and  fish  markets  that  are 
distributing  centers  for  all  the  surrounding  country,  to 
the  mutual  benefit  of  producers  and  consumers.  For 
the  year  1911  the  Superintendent  of  Markets  reports 
that  the  profit  on  the  markets  which  was  applied  in 
relief  of  the  city  rate  was  over  $85,000.  The  Super- 
tendent  also  reports  that  the  open-air  markets  held 
in  certain  streets  which  have  been  in  former  years  and 
are  still  well  patronized  by  the  public  in  spite  of  the 
discomfort  caused  by  the  lack  of  protection  from  the 
weather,  may  in  (i)  the  course  of  a  few  years  be 
crowded  out  by  the  progress  of  public  improvements 
"and  with  them  will  disappear  the  only  remaining 
examples  (in  Liverpool)  of  the  type  of  market  which 
commonly  existed  before  modern  demands  called 
for  greater  comfort  and  convenience." 

GLASGOW— The  city  of  Glasgow,  Scotland,  has 


(i)  Report  of  Supt.  of  Liverpool  Markets  received  March,  1912. 

16 


operated  for  many  years  an  admirable  system  of 
public  markets  for  all  kinds  of  produce.  Their  whole- 
sale fruit  and  vegetable  market  is  the  principal  dis- 
tributing center  for  the  west  of  Scotland,  most  of  the 
merchandise  being  sold  there  by  public  auction.  In 
all  the  Glasgow  markets  the  tendency  is  to  lessen  the 
retail  trade  carried  on  and  to  increase  the  wholesale. 
For  1908  the  city's  profits  on  the  public  markets  was 
about  $14,000. 

URUGUAY — Even  from  the  city  of  Montevideo 
in  Uruguay,  S.  A.,  comes  a  report  that  the  constant 
complaint  of  the  high  cost  of  living  there  has  induced 
the  municipal  government  to  establish  a  public  mar- 
ket. The  Bureau  of  Markets  fixes  the  prices,  lists  of 
which  are  posted  in  conspicuous  places.  The  at- 
tendance has  been  all  that  the  markets  could  accom- 
modate and  the  movement  has  proved  a  great  benefit 
to  the  poorer  classes. 

What  can  we  learn  from  this  view  of  the  conditions 
in  other  cities  and  what  should  be  the  direction  of  our 
effort  here? 

In  almost  all  of  the  cities  where  there  are  municipal 
markets  the  tendency  is  found  to  be  to  make  them 
centers  of  wholesale  trade, — clearing  houses  for  large 
districts.  The  day  of  the  retail  public  markets  in 
large  cities  is  passing.  They  do  not  pay.  They  do  not 
meet  the  demands  of  the  customers,  who  want  to 
market  by  telephone  and  must  have  prompt  delivery, 
—who  want  the  service  that  the  enterprising  private 
retailer  is  ready  to  give  them.  But  at  the  same  time, 
they  want  lower  prices  and  the  retailers  must  take 
advantage  of  every  means  of  giving  them  lower  prices, 
if  they  would  keep  their  hold.  Many  people  are  try- 
ing throughout  the  country  to  reduce  the  cost  of  food 
by  forming  what  are  called  "co-operative  associa- 
tions". The  name  is  very  alluring.  In  many  cases 
these  experiments  are  tried  by  people  without  the 
necessary  business  experience  and  it  is  found  that 
after  all,  the  regular  dealers  can  serve  them  better; 
but  in  the  trying  of  the  experiment  the  regular  dealer 
may  have  been  forced  out  of  business.  This  is  a 
condition  that  the  dealers  should  take  every  means 
of  preventing.  Clean  markets,  food  attractively 

17 


arranged,  and  prices  as  low  as  they  can  be  put,  will 
hold  customers  and  scare  off  the  co-operative  chimaera. 
The  distributing  depot  that  we  propose  to  estab- 
lish in  the  Bronx  will  be  one  of  the  means  of  reducing 
prices  and  if  the  retail  dealers  will  embrace  the  op- 
portunity which  it  will  offer,  they  should  be  able  to 
effect  a  very  material  reduction  in  the  cost  of  food  to 
the  people  they  serve. 

In  brief,  the  following  are  the  main  features  of  the 
plan: 

FACTS.  Wholesale  and  retail  dealers  are 
necessary  parts  of  the  distributing  system. 
Householders  nowadays  have  no  cellars  for 
storing  quantities  of  supplies.  They  live  from 
day  to  day  and  the  retail  dealers  must  supply 
them  in  small  quantities  at  the  times  they  wish. 
The  City  should  not  establish  municipal  retail 
markets  and  compete  with  its  citizens  already 
in  the  retail  business.  The  work  of  selling  by 
retail  can  be  done  better  by  private  dealers. 
Such  municipal  retail  markets  have  been  failures 
in  other  cities. 

PLAN.  To  establish  a  large  distributing  depot 
for  farm  produce,  fish  and  flowers  for  both  whole- 
salers and  retailers,  the  same  to  include  a  cold 
storage  and  a  canning  and  preserving  plant. 

LOCATION.  On  the  waterfront  in  the  south 
Bronx  where  it  may  be  reached  by  boat,  rail  and 
car  floats. 

SALES.     To  be  made  by  licensed  auctioneers. 
DELIVERY.     By  the  buyers'  wagons  or  by 
automobile  trucks  belonging  to  the  market. 

EFFECT.  A  large  distributing  depot  will 
reduce  the  cost  of  farm  produce  by  cutting  out 
unnecessary  handling  expenses.  It  will  ensure 
also  a  large  and  steady  supply  of  such  products. 
Because  of  the  lack  of  supply  and  high  cost  there 
is  a  marked  under-consumption  of  farm  products. 
The  steady  supply  at  moderate  prices  will  result 
in  larger  sales  and  more  profits  for  the  dealers, 
as  well  as  more  food  for  the  same  money  for  the 
consumers. 

18 


. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  I^BRAR/ 


